Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to epilating devices and in particular to an epilator with an improved tweezer portion that can be easily accessed and which can be used on difficult to access regions of the body.
Description of the Related Art
Epilating devices of many different types are known for the purpose of removing unwanted hair from various regions of a user's body. The principles of operation vary greatly but amongst these devices, a sizeable subgroup operates through the use of rotating tweezer-mechanisms which seize hairs and actively extract them from the skin follicle. As the tweezer rotates further it releases the hair. In the present context, the term “tweezers” is used to denote an arrangement that is capable of opening and closing to grip and extract a hair or hairs.
One of the earliest devices of this type is the Epilady™ device, which uses the rotation of a coil spring to capture and release hairs. Another device is disclosed in EP532106B1. That device uses rotating disks which are pivotable towards each other under the influence of a compression member. The rotating disks form a disk package and are carried by an axle which rotates between bearings carried by bearing support members at either end of the disk package. The compression member comprises roller members located within the bearing support members. The drive mechanism for rotating the disk package is also located in this region of the device.
Although the known devices may operate adequately in most circumstances, for accessing narrow regions, the presence of the bearing support members can be inconvenient. They can restrict access to the tweezer mechanism and increase the overall width of the device. The construction also prevents access right around the tweezer mechanism, which in some situations may be desirable. The bearing support members also do not easily allow for interchanging of the tweezer mechanism, and certainly not for the use of a tweezer mechanism having a greater or lesser length. It would therefore be desirable to produce an epilating device that overcomes at least a number of these inconveniences.